Business

Microsoft Sends DMCA Requests to the BBC, Wikipedia and More

A recent rash of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices from Microsoft ask Google to de-list a series of popular, most-likely non-infringing sites, including TechCrunch, The Huffington Post, BBC.com and Wikipedia.

It seems like the machine can't tell the difference between something used with permission or illegally. Based on the request, it seems that many of the sites were flagged because of references to the Windows 8 beta, which most of the sites in question would have been covering with not Microsoft's permission, but with their cooperation.

Nearly half of the 65 flagged URLs don't make any mention of Windows 8, according to TorrentFreak.

Automating the process saves time and money, but clearly it isn't working out. Can't companies just hire a couple of guys to skim these requests before they go out to weed out the most ridiculous requests? They don't need to be lawyers; just people with common sense.

Similarly, another set of notices sent by Microsoft requested specific sites from Spotify to be taken down. Again, if a real person had been involved somewhere in the process, they would've been able to see that the site licenses all of its material, and shouldn't be on the list.

Setting aside the fact that sending requests like these should be embarrassing to somebody, don't the copyright-holders care that sending out so many DMCA requests, combined with the current system's continued inaccuracy, makes the act of sending a DMCA request infinitely less effective?

Mashable
is a global, multi-platform media and entertainment company. Powered by its own proprietary technology, Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the globe.